Forum and Chat
The Person of Interest Wiki offers users the opportunity to interact using a discussion forum and real-time chat. Weekly episode discussions and topics of interest are posted in the forum, and open to all users. Chat is available for 24/7 conversation about the current episode, what might be coming or anything else of interest to the group. To access the forum and chat, use the grey navigation bar next to the Pedia of Interest icon at the top of the page. Mouse over ON THE WIKI. FORUM and CHAT will appear on a sub-menu. Click on the one you want to access. Need an administrator? The "Ask an Administrator" thread on the Forum's General Discussion/Q&A board is monitored by our administrators, and available if you have questions regarding the show or the wiki. Administrators can also be found hanging out in the chat room, and can be identified by the red and yellow icon after their user names. Both the forum and chat have some simple procedures and rules that keep them operating smoothly and enhance the enjoyment of everyone. Please take a few minutes to review them, and ENJOY! Using the Forum The allows users to discuss the show, the wiki, and related topics with one another 24/7. All users can post to the forum and start threads. NO SPOILERS are permitted on the forum. The Boards The forum is currently made up of seven boards: * Person of Interest: General Discussion for discussion of the show as a whole and related topics. * Season 3 for discussion of Season 3 episodes and related topics. When Season 4 begins, a new board will be added. * Season 1 and Season 2 for discussion of previous season episodes and related topics. * Cast and Characters for discussion of the cast and characters across episodes. * General Discussion/Q&A for discussion about the wiki, anything related to the show, and to ask questions. * News and Announcements for news about the show, the wiki and anything else related. * Off Topic for discussions not related to the show. Within each board is a series of individual threads, each on a topic of interest, which in turn include individual messages. Users may not add boards, but may start threads of interest within the boards, and add messages to existing threads. The forum has limited functionality, and unfortunately, we cannot pin threads. BBCode, used on many discussion forums, is not supported on the forum. However, the forum does support use of emoticons (see the table at the bottom of this article) and use of HTML mark-up language, including posting of pictures or video. The Season 3 Board The Season 3 board includes discussion threads for each week's episode. These threads are started on Tuesday morning (broadcast day) by LeverageGuru, the administrator who informally oversees the forum. Please join us in discussing the current and past episodes on these threads. You are also welcome to start a thread, but consider whether your topic needs a new thread, or can be included in the weekly episode thread. Questions about individual episodes (What was that music? Who played that character? etc.) should be asked in the weekly episode thread. Prevent board clutter: please do not start a new thread just to ask a question. Posting and Editing a Message The most common activity for users on the forum will be posting messages to existing threads. To add a message to an active thread, scroll to the bottom of the thread. You will find a lighter grey window with the message POST A REPLY. You can write your message in the box, then click PREVIEW to preview your text, or POST to post it. You can also post directly from the PREVIEW window by clicking PUBLISH. The message window includes some basic editing tools, which will appear once you click in it. Click on the brackets [ ] icon to see your post in source code, and the eye icon to see your message as it will appear when you post. B allows you to boldface selected text and I allows you to italicize selected text. Use the link icon to insert an internal link. The two image icons allow you to add a photograph or video to your message. To quote a poster's text in your message, mouse over the message you want to quote, moving your cursor to the lower right-hand corner of the message window. Two boxes: QUOTE and MORE will appear. Click on QUOTE. A new message window with message text you want to quote will appear. You can edit down the quoted text as needed. Please quote only as much text as it needed to make your own post make sense. You will also have the editing tools, PREVIEW and POST buttons available to you. Click POST to post your reply. Once you have posted a message, you can use the MORE drop-down menu to edit your post if needed. Click on EDIT, edit as needed, then click PREVIEW or POST. Starting a Thread When should you start a thread? The simple rule of thumb is when you have a topic you want to discuss that will involve multiple editors and multiple responses. If you just need a question answered, find an existing thread where your question fits and ask there. The season boards each have a general discussion thread, where questions can always be asked. Before you start a new thread, scroll down the thread window to see if there is an active discussion that will fit your topic of interest. To start a thread, find the START A DISCUSSION box at the top of the page. In the light grey box labeled "What do you want to talk about?" type the topic. When you do, a second grey box will open with the message "Post your message to (name of the board)" , where you can add the first post. When you finish your message, click PREVIEW to preview before posting, and POST to post your thread. Conduct on the Forum and in Chat Most of the time, chat and the forum are polite, collegial places, and users have respect for one another as well as each other's ideas. Occasionally, conflict arises. Always remember: we're all passionate about this show, and there is more than one way to look at any issue. Your right to run your mouth ends where it infringes on the enjoyment of another user. To that end, some simple established practices keep the chat room and forums running smoothly and respectfully: * Users should remain polite and calm at all times. If you are unable to do so, you are encouraged to step away for a time, then come back later. * Users should be addressed politely at all times. Personal attacks and name calling are never acceptable. * NO SPOILERS on the forum or in chat at any time. See the spoiler policy for details on what constitutes a spoiler. * Avoid profanity. Users' tolerance varies, and we may have young users. There's always another way to phrase things. * Stay on topic on a thread. There is nothing as annoying as someone who drags a thread off-topic with irrelevant discussion, particularly on the episode threads. The admin team recognizes that everyone has a bad day, and that a user can occasionally get on even the most reasonable person's nerves. We're all human, we all make mistakes, and you can expect we will consider your long-term pattern of behavior, then act accordingly if trouble arises. However, if a user's behavior on the forum or in chat remains problematic, it may merit a warning or result in a block. To Thread or Not to Thread That is sometimes the question. To avoid board clutter, some basic guidelines apply: * Scan the list of threads before starting a new one. * Consider whether your message would fit into an existing thread before starting a new one. * Be careful to start your thread on the most appropriate board. Depending on what is happening on the forum, the admin team may take any of the following action regarding threads: * Superfluous or unnecessary threads may be closed or removed. * Mis-located threads may be moved to the correct forum. * Inappropriate or off-topic posts, post containing spoilers or personal attacks, and spam posts may be removed. * Spam threads will be deleted, and may result in an immediate block of the posting user. User who are unable to participate on the forum and abide by these simple guidelines may be blocked. Using Chat The is a real-time chat room in which users are able to talk in a friendly and open environment. Users can join chat by mousing over on On the Wiki on the top navigation bar, then clicking Chat on the sub-menu. or by clicking "Join the Chat" or "Start a Chat" on the right navigation bar. The navigation bar will also show the avatars of other users online and available for chat. Chat Features and Messaging Once you have entered a chat, you can send messages to the chat room by typing text in the text box at the bottom of the chat window. Press enter or return on your keyboard to post your message. Your messages will be highlighted. Messages will post quickly, and activity can be rapid in the chat room. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the chat window to scroll back if you miss a message. To the right of the chat window, you will see a list of users currently on chat, along with their avatars. Site administrators are denoted by a red and yellow icon after their names. In the upper right-hand corner of the window, you will see your user name and avatar. Clicking on a user's avatar in the user list will open a drop-down menu. The menu will offer you a link to the user's user page and contributions page. You can collapse the list of users by clicking on the black arrow beside the Wiki logo on the top right. To see the list again, click on the arrow again. Private Messaging Chat has a private message feature that will allow you to message a user while they are in chat. To private message someone, click on the user in the user list and select the "Private message" option in the menu. If there is no such option shown, the user may have blocked private messages from you, or the user may already be in a private message chat room with you. Clicking on a user under the Private Messages section displays some options. Selecting the private message option will open a private message room with the user. To talk to the user, enter a message in the message window and press return/enter. If you want to return to the main chat room, click on the logo at the top right. To block private messages from a user, click on the user under the "Private Messages" section while in the room, and select the option "Block private messages". If you decide you want to re-allow private messages with a user, click on the user in the user list and select the option "Allow private messages". If the user you are private messaging has left the chat, their username and avatar will dim in the Private Messages section, although you can still see the private conversation. You will also have the option to block private messages from users, even after they have left the chat, as long as there is still the option to view a private conversation with them. Using Emoticons Emoticons allow users to add humor and clues to the tone of their messages on the forum and chat. Some of the emoticons you can use are featured in the table below. Know another good one? Let us know and we'll add it to the table. Category:Policy Category:The Library